After reading it, I knew I wanted to get involved so I got in touch with those in charge and soon found myself at the front door of Harp Elementary in Springdale, Arkansas. At Harp I was placed at a station that talked about the uses of horses around the world, specifically divided between work horses and recreational horses. Can you guess what my section was?? You got it, recreational = rodeo! I spoke to 4th grade students from Harp, Lee, George and Jones elementary school about the 6 events in rodeo that use horses and briefly described each. The time was a bit restraining on how much elaboration I could do but nonetheless, I great way to introduce kids to the sport and promote my rodeo. I was sure to mention Rodeo of the Ozarks, since it's in their hometown. When beginning the presentation, we ask the kids, "Can anyone name some uses of horses?" One student exclaimed "To eat them!" another quickly and seriously retorted, "no, that is illegal." I'm thankful I didn't have to address that one much, I quickly diverted by saying that here in the U.S. we do not because we consider horses to be a companion animal but they do have many important uses...This morning I was at Bayarri Elementary and stati
oned at the grooming/ shoeing area. The kids have a journal of questions that they are supposed to filling out as the rotate stations. In this group, I was able to speak more and the kids seemed to enjoy it more because of the hands on factor. I had a table of grooming utensils set up and briefly told the kids about the most important ones while letting them touch each one. Some of the comments and questions asked were very interesting because they ask things that a horse person, never thinks twice about. Thankfully, when preparing to run for Miss Rodeo of the Ozarks, I had a great support team (especially my boyfriend) who helped prepare to answer questions on the spot. I can attribute my ability to think quick because of the pop up questions he would ask me and I would rattle of an answer in a heartbeat. After giving the students a run down of grooming, we split them up into two lines and each child got to brush a horse several times then pass it to the next person. While they were brushing, I asked them if they had any other questions about horses or about me. By the second part of the day, I though I'd heard it all when the ultimate question was asked, "How do you tell if it's a boy or a girl?" A quick wave of panic probably swept over my face but all day I had been relating horses to the kids so my response, "just like you boys and girls have different body parts, so do horses. If you look underneath them, you can tell the difference." In another group, we some extra time so I asked if they had questions about me. One question turned into another and one student asked to touch my belt buckle so I let her... bad choice because if you let one, the rest of them have too as well. As if that wasn't a lesson learned, another kid wanted to see my crown so I squatted down to let him see it. And... you guessed it, all of them had to see it. The result? My leg workout for the day was one really long squat!
I had such a great time, not only working with kids, but getting to know the kind people behind hosting such a spectacular opportunity. Jacci Perry and the team presented me with the sweetest box of gifts in order to thank me for helping but in reality, no thanks is needed because it was such a rewarding time. I look forward to the next Horse Tales for Literacy events in Bentonville and Rogers around March or April.Hope everyone is staying warm!
